Here are some insights from Jim Lentz, 50, the new executive vice president of Toyota Motors Sales U.S.A. Inc.
What jobs did you have as a young man?
I sold Rainbow vacuums door to door when I was 15. It was everything bad that you thought about vacuum salesmen. It didn't really mesh well with my ethical makeup. I also strung tennis racquets and set up ski equipment. I inspected pools for the health department in suburban Illinois. That was really about sales, too, because you had to sell people on the reason why you were shutting down their pool.
What was your first automotive job?
I started with Ford in 1978 in the Denver region. I spent four years at Ford, then came to Toyota.
What is on your iPod?
Everything from Celtic Woman to Nirvana, Hootie, Cat Stevens and Alanis Morissette. There's Lynyrd Skynyrd to wake me up, and Enya to put me to sleep.
Last book read?
The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman.
Last movie seen?
That Denzel Washington bank heist movie, Inside Man.
Last vacation taken?
Every summer, I try to visit my parents in Colorado. Two years ago was the first vacation where I didn't have to go somewhere else on business in the middle of it.
Your favorite restaurant?
Cafe Normandie in Annapolis, Md. It's a little French place on Front Street, with about a dozen tables. The osso buco is really good.
You may e-mail Mark Rechtin at [email protected]
